This is called “Star of Bethlehem”, but it is not the weed that is native to North Carolina.
This is Ornithogalum arabicum.
Its blooms sit on a eighteen-inch stalk.
It has a lovely fragrance.
I love the shiny black eyes in the center.
Mine are planted near our walkway into the house.
It is a star in my eastern garden, though it comes from the Mediterranean.
Flower
I love my single Peonies.
I love their floppy petals and their dusty yellow centers.
But I adore the doubles.
Beauty can be a burden.
These blooms need staking.
They must be shaken lightly after rain to prevent broken stems.
I marvel at the loveliness of all those clustered petals.
Oh, the burden of beauty!
Poor peonies.
Flower
This is the most magical plant in my garden.
Its nickname is Fairy Flower.
Most call it foxglove. The scientific name is Digitalis purpurea.
One year I actually hid tiny fairies in the flowers for a post.
Most of my foxgloves are pink this season.
But no two are identical.
The tubular flowers have hairs inside along the bottom.
The stamen with pollen and stigma are under the roof.
Bees go in and get their tummies tickled by the hairs
as pollen is deposited onto or removed from their backs.
It’s the spots that get me.
Flow
He comes every morning to fight his foe.
I hear the tap, tap, tapping on the window.
I know it is he, doing battle bravely.
He fights his reflection
because he does not know himself.
He is his own enemy.
flow is low
(This post is to honor those innocent people who were needlessly killed at my alma mater, UNCC.)
Sometimes I look through my camera and get surprised.
I got a surprise while photographing one of the Spiderworts.
It had tiny flying insects hanging onto its stamen.
Not hoovering like a normal bee, but tucked into the flower.
This Spiderwort is Tradescantia ‘Zwanenburg Blue.’
Its flowers close during the heat of the day and in wind.
It likes moist conditions, but I have had some rot if kept too wet.
It is deer resistant. A feature that is much needed now that my garden is a deer delicatessen.
Flow
I thought that I had moved the fairy garden this spring.
I was tired of crawling around on the ground weeding.
It was too hard lying down to get those close-ups.
But you can’t move magic.
I stopped by the old tree today. Or maybe it called me over.
I felt it immediately, the magic.
Even through all the weeds and sticks and leaves, it was magical.
So down I went on my hands and knees,
crawling around that big old tree.
Cleaning out all those nooks and crannies between the roots.
Gently brushing away debris.
If one is lucky enough to find magic,
one needs to be wise enough to know
you can’t move magic.
Flow
Taco Supreme is an iris of mystery.
The light plays tricks with the blooms all do long.
Its beige turns to peach
and its burgundy turns to red…or is it purple?
What a color-shifter it is!
Is this a trick or a talent?
Taco Supreme is a surprise.
Flower
It appeared in the late afternoon. It was not there that morning when I hung out the laundry.
It climbed up the edge of the concrete just feet from where it emerged from the ground last year.
Same sulfur yellow, same blobbing fan of puffy, pasty goo.
The bunnies seemed undisturbed by its presence.
Of course, they also ignore snakes and chipmunks…and me when I call them to come in.
It was much bigger this morning.
I am going to keep an eye on this sneaky slime mold.
No telling what it plans to do.
I think I can outrun it.
FLOW
floweralley 